‘Lucky Day’ for Dixon woman

Dollar ticket pays off with $112,500

Monica Barkowski's $1 quick ticket won a $112,500 prize. Dixon Food Center will receive a $1,125 bonus from the Lottery for selling the winning ticket.

By Derek Barichello dbarichello@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 526

DIXON – Monica Barkowski has been playing the lottery for years, so many that she cannot recall when she started.

When the numbers in Wednesday morning’s newspaper for the Lucky Day Lotto finally matched all five digits on the Dixon resident’s ticket, she was in disbelief. Her $1 quick ticket won a $112,500 prize.

Barkowski drove to the Dixon Food Center, where she had bought the ticket, to verify the numbers at the store’s self-scanner – 02, 20, 21, 25 and 29. She even checked the numbers on the Illinois Lottery’s website when she returned home.

“I just can’t believe I won,” she said.

As is her routine, Barkowski bought the ticket Friday, along with a number of other quick pick tickets for the week.

The lifelong Dixon resident is reserving her celebration until the money is in her hands, she said. She and James went out for a lunch on their trip to the Rockford claims center Wednesday to verify the winning ticket.

“We’re going to be a little conservative with it,” Barkowski said, undecided about specific plans to spend the money.

Barowski is an assembler at Donaldson’s Corp. She and her husband have four children and three grandchildren.

“When it’s here, there might be a little extra special Christmas,” she said.

Dixon Food Center will receive a $1,125 bonus from the Lottery for selling the winning ticket.